Carrol Co. 7/4/10

The Carrol Co. butterfly count was a hot, dismal affair. The weather was mid-90s and sunny, and the butterflies were not happy. Notably absent were some typical favorites: Baltimore Checkerspot, Edwards Hairstreak, Appalachian Brown.

We did see these:

Gray Hairstreak Strymon melinus
Banded Hairstreak Satyrium calanus
Eastern Tailed Blue Cupido comyntas
Summer Azure Celastrina ladon
America Copper Lycaena phlaeas
Little Wood Satyr Megisto cymela
Common Wood Nymph Cercyonis pegala
Great Spangled Fritillary Speyeria cybele
Meadow Fritillary Boloria bellona
Pearl Crescent Phyciodes tharos
Viceroy Limenitis archippus
Red-Spotted Purple Limenitis arthemis
Snout Butterfly Libytheana carinenta
Hackberry Emperor Asterocampa celtis
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Pterourus/Papilio glaucus
Spicebush Swallowtail Pterourus/Papilio troilus
Orange Sulfur Colias eurytheme, including one poor female who was tackled by a Hemiptera species.
Clouded Sulfur Colias philodice
Huge numbers of Cabbage Whites Pieris rapae
Least Skipper Ancyloxypha numitor
Little Glassy Wing Pompeius verna
Silver-Spotted Skipper Epargyreus clarus
Hordes of Wild Indigo Duskywings Erynnis baptisiae

This Orange Sulfur female has a reason for the unnatural pose


She's being consumed. :(


Three Tiger Swallowtails and an Azure have the right idea...


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Frederick Co. 7/3/10

Hit the powerlines again with the girls. Hot and sunny (mid-80s). We saw


Red-Spotted Purple Limenitis arthemis
Red Admiral Vanessa atalanta
Question Mark Polygonia interrogationis
Mourning Cloak Nymphalis antiopa

Great Spangled Fritillary Speyeria cybele
Eastern Tailed Blue Cupido comyntas
many Azures Celastrina sp.
Orange Sulfur Colias eurytheme
Clouded Sulfur Colias philodice
Cabbage White Pieris rapae
several Spicebush Swallowtails Papilio troilus
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Papilio/Pterouros glaucus
Wild Indigo Duskywing Erynnis baptisiae
Sachem Atalopedes campestris
Least Skipper Ancyloxypha numitor

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Frederick Co. 6/14/10

Went to the powerline cut-through this day and saw a number of different species and a spectacular mating pair of Great Spangled Fritillaries. Conditions were sunny and 90s.


This pair landed on the grass stems and opened and closed their wings in tandem. It was a sight to behold. The darker-brown female is above.





A Northern Cloudywing Thorbys pylades


A very fresh Gray Hairstreak Strymon melinus


A Crossline Skipper Polites origenes
A male


and a female


An unknown skipper. Dun? Swarthy?



Another unknown skipper. Crossline? Northern Broken Dash?



Also seen:

American Lady V. virginiensis
Red Admiral V. atalanta
Question Mark P. interrogationis
Eastern Tailed Blue C. comyntas
American Copper L. phlaeas
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail P. glaucus
Spicebush Swallowtail P. troilus
Orange Sulfur C. eurytheme
Cabbage White P. rapae
Little Wood Satyr M. cymela
Least Skipper A. numitor

Notably absent this entire spring: Black Swallowtails (what happened to the thirteen I released fall 2009?!)

JRC
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Carroll Co. 6/11/10

On a lark, I went out to check the Carroll Co. sites in mid-June. To my surprise, Baltimore Checkerspot season had already begun! Conditions were clear and warm, turning to hazy with sprinkles.


Baltimore Checkerspot Euphydryas phaeton






Also seen were a Little Glassywing Pompeius verna

A Little Wood Satyr Megisto cymela

And an Orange Sulfur Colias eurytheme getting nailed by a Robberfly Asilidae sp.

as well:

Red Admiral V. atalanta
Red-Spotted Purple L. arthemis
Cabbage White P. rapae
Eastern Tailed Blue C. comyntas
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail P. glaucus
Appalachian Brown S. appalachia
Silver-Spotted Skipper E. clarus
Pearl Crescent P. tharos
Spicebush Swallowtail P. troilus
Mourning Cloak N. antiopa
Great Spangled Fritillary S. cybele

Overall a thin count...

JRC
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American Ladies Vanessa virginiensis

From the "Plant it and they will come" file ...

This spring I decided to plant hostplants for the American Lady. The most common are Pussytoes and Pearly Everlasting, both species of the genus Anaphalis. So I ordered some Pussytoes from Prairie Moon and within weeks, there were little nests containing multiple V. virginiensis caterpillars (discovered 5/31/10).

In fact, the plants were pretty much down to the nub, so it was necessary to quickly find more hostplants. The powerline near us yielded some Pearly Everlasting, along with even more nests. Here's one, with a 2nd or 3rd instar cat. The nests are made by folding up the leaves at the top of the plant with a kind of silk, and the caterpillar eats by scraping off the tops of the leaves while inside the nest. Needless to say, he also poops inside the nest, so everything gets rather messy.



All in all, 10 cats were discovered. Here are four of them in various stages:



The setup seen here, several plants in a Glad container with water, works well for Monarchs, but not so well for these -- there's not quite enough foliage to form a nest, perhaps?

A 5th instar cat



By 6/11/10, the cats began to pupate





and on 6/20/10 we got our first Lady!



Overall, the results were poor. Four cats died. One pupated near the cage zipper and got caught by mistake. One chrysalis failed to eclose. Four hatched successfully. The hope is that next year, when the Pussytoes are stronger and more leafy, we can bring more cats to adulthood.

JRC

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